60 Mr. R. Swinhoe on the Ornithology 



98. Francolinus perlatus (Gmel.). 



This bird is numerous in Hongkong, inhabiting the patches of 

 bushes and fern that so frequently occur in nooks and depressions 

 on the hill -sides, whence it is very difficult to flush it, even with 

 a good dog. If you mark a bird down, you are by no means sure 

 of putting it up again. It is a solitary bird, and does not 

 associate in coveys. In the early mornings of April, and during 

 the greater part of the day, if cloudy, you may hear them cry- 

 ing to each other on the hills around that enclose the Happy 

 Valley. One male starts the song " ke-kai, ke-kai, ka-karr," 

 another on an adjoining hill defiantly repeats the notes ; a third, 

 still further, is heard, and even a fourth, until the notes are lost 

 as it were in a distant echo. The first bird then commences 

 again, adding greater emphasis to the last note, and the other 

 birds take up the song in succession as before. AVhen heard 

 near, these notes sound harsh to the ear; but at a distance they 

 have a pleasant, wild effect as they sweep over the sides of 

 the towering hills. The flesh of this Francolin is white and 

 insipid. 



99. CoTURNix DACTYLisoNANS, Tcmm. 



Common ; but, I think, merely as a winter visitant when corn 

 takes the place of rice in the fields. Numbers are captured and 

 brought to market in baskets ; the best males being first selected, 

 and confined separately in straw bags, for pugilistic purposes. For 

 the table, they sell at 45, or 5^. the dozen ; but the warlike indi- 

 viduals fetch \s. or 25. apiece. 



100. CoTURNix cHiNENSis (Linn.). 



This diminutive and prettily-marked species is found in the 

 neighbourhood of Canton, to which city it is carried singly or in 

 pairs, and offered for sale in cages. It is by no means common, 

 and is much esteemed as a cage-bird. 



101. TURNIX JOUDERA, HodgS. ? 



This a good deal resembles the bird figured in Gray's ' Genera 

 of Birds ' with the above name, but is rather larger. You find it 

 occasionally in the Hongkong markets mixed up with Quails, 

 from which it is distinguished by Europeans by the name 



